Heritage group offers 'time capsule' tours at Glenaladale Estate

It's been a summer of learning for The Glenaladale Heritage Trust Inc. — the group that operates the Glenaladale Estate in eastern P.E.I. The group has been providing tours for the first time since it bought the property last year.

Items from 2 families that lived in the home are on display

CBC News · Posted: Aug 26, 2019 6:04 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 26, 2019

The Glenaladale Settlement in 1772 was one of the earliest Scottish emigrations to what would become Canada. (Nancy Russell/CBC)

It's been a summer of learning for The Glenaladale Heritage Trust Inc. — the group that operates the Glenaladale Estate in eastern P.E.I.

The group has been providing tours for the first time since it bought the property last year.

Aggi-Rose Reddin, vice-chair of the Glenaladale Estate, said volunteers and summer students have discovered historical artifacts like spectacles and old hats in the nooks and crannies of the home.

"It was lived in for 100 and some years … so the house will reflect life and the evolution of a home for that time span," she said.

The Glenaladale Settlement in 1772 was one of the earliest Scottish emigrations to what would become Canada.

2022 is going to be our big year. That year marks the 250th anniversary of the Glenaladale settlers coming to P.E.I.- Aggi-Rose Reddin, vice-chair, Glenaladale Estate

The current brick mansion was built in 1883 and was the private home of two families — the MacDonalds and the MacKinnons.

Their belongings were passed along when the house was sold first in 1905 and then in 2018. Now, items from the two families are displayed as a kind of time capsule.

"I think it is the time capsule aspect and the feeling that they're coming into somebody's home rather than into a museum and that's really what we want people to take away," said Reddin.

'What a different time'

Mia Fradsham, a summer student at the home, spends most of her days painting and cleaning the property.

She said people touring the house seem to be blown away by the fact that everything was left just the way it was.

Volunteers at the Glenaladale Estate try on old hats found in the home. (Nancy Russell/CBC)

"I think just the fact that everything seems to be just as if they just got up one day and went out to the store," she said.

"That's the most interesting thing for me, just how old it is, and what a different time period they were living in when they were here."

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Restoring the space will take several years

Glenaladale has some other interesting features that are highlighted on the tours such as the barn, which was said to be the largest in Canada until it burned down in 1907.

Other innovations included running water and indoor toilets.

"Privies they were called and they were indoor outhouses. So it looks kind of strange nowadays, but back then it was quite luxurious as you wouldn't have to go outside to go to the bathroom," said Aidan Campbell, a tour guide at Glenaladale Estate.

The current brick mansion was built in 1883. (Nancy Russell/CBC)

The estate is free to visit but Reddin said many people are making donations.

Reddin said restoring the space will take several years.

"2022 is going to be our big year. That year marks the 250th anniversary of the Glenaladale settlers coming to P.E.I."

Reddin said the daily tours wrap up this week as the summer students head back to school, but there are plans for special events to continue all year long.